Everybody Wants To Rule the World
by Anera527
Summary: It's been six months since the close of Danny Latimer's murder; six months since an intricate web of lies caused Ellie Miller's world to come tumbling down. But now she will face a whole new set of elaborate lies that will turn her world upside down. Jack Harkness is in town.
1. Chapter 1

"_**Everybody Wants To Rule the World"**_

Chapter 1

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"_You know this town. You're used to the ordinary—look for out of the ordinary. Follow your instincts."_

-Broadchurch, episode 2

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Ellie Miller was not in the best of moods.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it was three in the morning, or very near to it, and she wasn't quite fully awake. Not going to bed until one in the morning had not been a good idea. It did have something to do with the fact that it had been a call-in from headquarters saying that they had discovered something worth investigating. Ever since Danny Latimer's body had been found on the each every phone call scared her.

Sometimes, she hated the fact that she had agreed to come back to Broadchurch's police force.

Alec was waiting for her near the front doors, nearly blending into the dusky black of night from his dark suit.

"Sir," she greeted him shortly as she approached. She said it not unkindly.

"Miller." His greeting was the same as always, just as gruff and brusque as the first day she'd met him over Danny's body; but like her own, his tone was one of familiarity. He met her at the top step, windswept and unkempt but as alert as he always was. "They need us at the warehouses."

The warehouses at the water, where the boats were docked. Ellie felt her stomach clench. "What's happened?"

He shrugged, scowling slightly. "Don't know. HQ got a call-in emergency thirty minutes ago saying that there was suspicious activity along one of the docks."

She raised her eyebrows when he paused. "That's it?" She didn't suppose so, but she'd been called in for stranger reasons.

He shook his head. "The caller went to check it out—and then he yelled and the line went dead."

Ellie blinked. "'He'?"

"Definitely know that the caller was a he, but we couldn't get any identification before the call was cut off."

Ellie didn't say anything in reply to that but she didn't need to to know that the aborted call was not a good sign at all. She supposed that there was a possibility that the anonymous caller had merely slipped on the dock and knocked himself unconscious, but no one was ever that lucky.

She slipped into the passenger seat and looked out at the sky. The stars were hidden. They were calling for rain during the following late morning, early afternoon forecast, which meant a grey dreary day. She sighed.

Alec glanced over at her. "You alright?"

She glanced over at him, then away again. He asked her that every so often, when it was only the two of them, and she was usually a mix of touched and exasperated by it. She never snapped at him for the question, however, simply because he never showed he genuinely cared for her in any other way.

"Fine."

She had good days and bad days. On her good days she could _almost_ smile with enthusiasm and feel _almost_ like the old Ellie Miller who could see the good in everything and everyone and always greeted the day with a smile. On her bad days, however, she felt brittle and the old sense of betrayal choked her until she felt like she couldn't breathe. On those days she could barely manage to drag herself out of bed.

Surprisingly, it was Alec who helped her the most. When the whole town looked at her as the wife of a murderer, sometimes shunning her company like a plague, he was there. Whether it was simply listening to her rant when needed or purposely bickering with her to shift her attention elsewhere, he never looked at her any differently. And that helped.

They were quiet for the most part driving down to the docks, Alec asking only once about Tom and Fred, her sons. Ellie struggled to wake up a little more, focusing on what the phone-call and its implications might mean.

Then he turned the headlights off right before they turned into the drive leading to the docks, long before he cut the engine. Ellie looked at him in confusion.

"Just a feeling," he muttered quietly.

Ellie nodded. As a man who followed his instincts on a daily basis, she knew he often did things a little unconventionally. She silently followed his lead as they left the car and headed for the docks. The sea was lapping soothingly below their feet, faint beneath the sounds of their footsteps. Their torches splashed the wooden walkway faint white before them. Nothing seemed amiss.

And then halfway to the first warehouse, Ellie's torchlight fell upon a pool of wet blood. She breathed in sharply through her nose, turning to Alec, but he had already stepped up beside her, face grim.

"An attack?" Ellie asked him lowly. "Or could the caller have simply hurt himself and managed to walk off?"

He shook his head. "Attacked," he answered just as quietly. He turned his torch farther up the dock and she saw what he had already noticed—a trail of blood was leading away up to the warehouse, smudged dark against the wood. Like a carcass being dragged.

"Any sign of his phone?" She turned her light around, looking for the glint of metal.

He joined her in her search for a moment before shaking his head again. "Must've dropped off into the water," he said, looking back at the blood trail. "Come on, Miller."

Carefully navigating past the smears, the two of them slowly made their way along, closer and closer to the warehouse that, in Ellie's mind, was quickly gaining a sinister edge.

The door, when they came to it, had been broken down, nearly splintered from its hinges as if in a fit of rage. Ellie paused for just a moment, taken aback by the surprising brutality of such an action, before Alec looked back at her, silently urging her on.

And then the stench hit them.

Ellie nearly gagged as the smell of scorched flesh and spilled blood wafted past the torn-up door, overwhelmingly thick and cloying down the back of her throat.

"Miller, call for back-up," Alec instructed her hoarsely; in the pale light she saw he had paled considerably. "Now!"

Privately relieved that she didn't have to go in there yet, she did as she was told—and turning back to the doorway realized that he had already climbed over the wreckage and was inside. "Sir!" The exclamation was louder than she'd intended, and she winced, lowering her voice to continue. "For God's sake, what are you _doing_?!"

He ignored her. "Stay there."

She growled exasperatedly in the back of her throat, cursing his stupidity, but nonetheless did as he'd ordered, shining her torch down at the threshold. Blood wetly shone on the splintered edges, and looking closer realized that it had to be arterial blood from how dark it was. So if it was an attack they were dealing with someone who knew the major spots of the body.

Hurried footsteps coming back told her of Alec's approach, just as the sirens of the approaching police cars and ambulance came up to the water's edge. More concerned with Alec's return, she shone her torchlight into the warehouse.

"What is it/" she called, trying not to breathe.

He came into view, white and thin-lipped, very close to being sick himself. He staggered over the threshold, allowing Ellie to give him a hand keeping his balance, before practically falling against the side of the warehouse. There was something in his dark eyes that she couldn't place but nonetheless sent a chill shivering down her spine.

"There's definitely a body down there," he told her quietly. "It's Steve Connelly."


	2. Chapter 2

"_**Chapter 2"**_

A/N: I liked Joe. A lot. I can't hate him, no matter how many times I watch the eighth episode of the series. He wasn't truly a villain in my book, just a man who was probably just very very lost. You'll be seeing mentions of him a lot in this story, because his ruined relationship with Ellie plays a lot into where she is at the moment.

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The paramedics had come and loaded the body away; Alec had been right, Ellie saw with an awful flip of her stomach. It was Steve Connelly, but so torn up and blood-drenched that he was nearly unrecognizable. Only his face had been left uncovered when she saw him, but still the scent of burnt flesh rose from beneath the blanket, almost making her gag again, and she couldn't hide her relief when finally the ambulance was shut and driven away to take the body to the morgue.

Alec walked up to her side, grim. After one moment of simply trying to gather himself he had not allowed anything to distract him, instead silently observing the body being loaded up and perusing the area for anything else out of the ordinary. "They're heading back to HQ now," he said quietly. "C'mon."

Ellie looked back at the smear of blood still drying on the dock and shuddered before turning to head back to the car.

Alec, she realized, was on his phone when she got there. He didn't notice her. "—need your experience on this one," he was saying lowly. A pause. "Yes. I think so." Another pause. He shifted on his feet, suddenly irritated. "No. Don't come your usual way, you'll scare them all. Besides, you can't, I fixed it last time I was there. No, and don't wear that bloody trench coat, either!" With a sigh that was almost a growl he snapped the phone shut, looking at the screen for a moment before turning. If he was surprised by Ellie's presence he didn't show it; he merely raised an eyebrow and got into the car. Ellie followed suit.

"Who was that?" she asked.

He didn't look over. "A—friend."

Sensing he would explain no further, Ellie let it go but her curiosity was piqued.

Several things about Alec confused her. In the beginning, he had simply seemed to be a socially awkward, bitter-driven man who had no manners and no heart. But the case of Danny Latimer's murder had dragged on, the killer found to be none other than Ellie's own husband Joe; and on the days when she was okay, she noticed a change in him. It was a small change, but he had softened somewhat. She didn't know why.

And then there was the issue of his being invalided out of the police after the close of the case by what the doctors called heart arrhythmia. He should have been forced into early retirement for good. And for a while it had seemed like he was. He packed up and left Broadchurch altogether, without a word or an explanation. And Ellie would never admit it to him but a part of her had missed being able to simply talk to him when she felt like the rest of the town was judging her (which they were). The other part of her, of course, had expected nothing less than what he had done, leaving the way he did. But just as quickly as she thought she would never see him again, he showed back up in town, just as gaunt and tired as before, but _somehow_ he had gotten his position reinstated and he was back on the force within days.

She had always wanted to ask him where he had gone after leaving Broadchurch, but she never entertained the thought that he would actually tell her. She didn't ask him why he came back, either, merely quirked an eyebrow when seeing him and addressed him as 'sir'.

"Never seen that much blood before in a crime scene," she muttered quietly, looking at her hands.

She missed the glance he shot at her—one of concern, perhaps, but it was quickly gone and he was watching the road again. "One of the worst I've seen," he agreed. His knuckles were white where they were clutching the steering wheel.

"Who d'you suppose could have done something like this?"

He shook his head. "Dunno," he answered shortly.

They would simply have to wait for the reports from the autopsy to come in before they could begin to speculate, but Ellie couldn't help but wonder. Was it a gang, an underground cult perhaps? But why murder Connelly? She felt a pang to her stomach again. During the Danny Latimer case he had merely seemed a nuisance, trying to claim that he had 'psychic abilities' that allowed him to talk with the dead, even going so far as to meet with Beth Latimer to tell her that her dead son was communicating with him. Ellie had had no patience for the man, no matter how much he had pleaded that he was telling the truth, but now… now she couldn't help but feel sorry. No one deserved such a fate.

Once again she glanced over at her boss, trying not to make it look like she was. He was luckily looking forward, paying little mind to her at all, but she quickly looked away from him before he could catch her.

There was a lot that Ellie Miller could speculate on—and at the moment she was wondering who it was Alec Hardy had called asking for 'expertise'.

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She was able to get a couple more hours of sleep before needing to get her boys up for the day. Not in the bed, of course. It didn't matter if they had left their house, if she had slowly gotten rid of many of her husband's belongings—she slept on their worn-in sofa or chair in the living room, wrapped in the blanket that held the least amount of Joe's scent, hating the gaping hole beside her in the bed where he was _supposed_ to be. It felt awful without him, but she hated the very thought of him, of what he had done.

She didn't care that he had been sorry for the crime he had committed. She didn't care that while in the jail at Broadchurch he had asked for her several times. Nothing justified the killing of an eleven year old boy, nothing made it alright. She hated him for ruining their lives.

She hated herself for missing him so much. She missed Joe enough it was still a physical ache that sometimes left her breathless.

But she had to do things without him now, had to remind herself daily that it was just her and Tom and Fred, and that was the way things were going to remain. It was unlikely that Joe would receive anything less than life in jail.

Thanking of him was painful. He was a subject never broached by anyone. Not even by Alec. _Especially_ not by Alec.

She dropped Tom off at school, then Fred at her sister's, and headed off to work, trying to ignore the stares she was getting. She had never been called anything to her face but she could hear whispers that followed her around anywhere she went.

The office was busy and just as noisy as always, but she immediately headed to her desk without greeting anybody. But that was okay, because very few of them stopped to speak to her anymore. She perused through paperwork she'd just been given for a couple of hours before familiar footsteps caught her attention and she looked up to see Alec walking into his office.

'Moving quickly today,' she thought to herself, and there was an undeniable speed to his walk that was not customary for him. Standing, she made her way over to the threshold of the office, waiting for him to notice her.

He did quickly enough. He looked even more unkempt than usual; his shirt was rumpled slightly, his tie a little sideways, and it looked like he had barely touched his hair. There was something distracted in his expression as well.

"You all right, sir?" she asked.

He was slipping his coat on, barely looking at her. "First autopsy reports for Steve Connelly are in," he said. "Gonna walk down and see them." Now he turned and looked at her. "We have a couple—ah, _specialists_ coming in, Miller," he continued without pause. "People who have a little more expertise with these sort of crimes."

She frowned. "But it's just an ordinary crime scene. Blood, a dead body—why do we need specialists with this?"

He gave her his usual silent Stare. It was a tactic he used a lot, for either making a point, making you think you were dumb, or simply making you feel bad. This was his 'making you feel dumb' Stare. He didn't reply to her questions, merely walked out of the office. Exasperated, she sighed and followed him.

The walk down to the autopsy room was silent as most walks between them usually were until finally Ellie frowned. "Sir, when did you say your friends were coming in?"

He looked over his shoulder at her, looking like he was about to say something—

And then a tall man rounded the corner facing them, heading their direction. Ellie stared, taken aback. He was probably as tall as Alec, although certainly not as thin, with dark hair cut short and wearing a long dark blue WWII-style trench coat. Alec rolled his eyes and growled deep in his throat, as kind a greeting as this man was probably going to get.

That didn't stop the man from smiling charmingly. Everything about the man oozed charisma, Ellie thought, staring. Where the _hell_ had he come from?

"DI Hardy," the man said cheerfully, and again Ellie was taken aback by his clear American accent. Alec was calling in _Americans_ to help with the case?

"Captain," Alec replied unsmilingly.

The man looked at Ellie, and his smile, if possible, turned even more charming, extending a hand out to her. "Hel-_lo_—"

"Stop it," Alec barked in exasperation.

Ellie struggled to hide the sudden blush that wanted to bloom across her face, hoping to God that neither of them noticed how flustered she had suddenly become. "It's all right, sir," she muttered. "I don't mind."

Alec rolled his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose. "For God's sake, Harkness," he growled, glaring at the stranger, "_why_ do you do that?"

The man 'Harkness' smiled brilliantly, looking at the irritable copper. 'I can't help it if women find an interest, _Alec_," he retorted with good humor, his tone stressing the copper's resented first name.

"Too bad you don't find an interest in women," Alec snapped. "She's _married_, Harkness!" he said warningly as the man made to reply.

Harkness turned back to Ellie. "Too bad for me then, huh? You are?"

She finally managed to stop from blushing and looked him in the eye. "Ellie Miller. Detective Sergeant."

"Working with this stubborn git." Harkness leaned in with another charming smile and a wink. "Tell you something, Ellie Miller," he stage-whispered. "Alec Hardy isn't as bad as you think he is."

"I hope you're referring to something _outside_ of your sexual fantasies," Alec muttered.

Ellie nodded slightly in response to Harkness' words. "I know," she replied simply.

Suddenly uncomfortable, Alec shifted, calling the man's attention away from Ellie again. "So?" he asked bluntly. "Have you had a look yet?"

Harkness nodded, suddenly very grim. "Yeah. It's a good thing you called, Alec." He looked at Ellie, bowing slightly. "Jack Harkness," he said. 'Torchwood is here to help."


	3. Chapter 3

"_**Chapter 3"**_

There was nothing about an institute or team called 'Torchwood' on the databases. Nothing at all, besides a tiny little mention that linked the word to her late majesty Queen Victoria, but that surely didn't have anything in common with Captain Jack Harkness.

There was, however, a swift mention of the Captain in an old file hidden away, one Ellie managed to stumble across quite by accident in her search. It was from years back, from when Harry Saxon was Prime Minister, and declared three different people enemies of the state—a young black woman, a brown-haired man Ellie thought looked vaguely familiar, and finally Captain Jack. Declared national terrorists. But other than that single file there was nothing else about terrorism or the Captain or the other two mentioned. He simply dropped off the radar.

He confused her. First he showed up out of nowhere—and if he was American how did he manage to travel to Wessex so quickly? Then there was the fact that he was called a specialist, but there was something missing from his explanation. 'Identifying causes of death outside the normal ways,' was how he had put it, smooth and calm as always, but in Ellie's line of work no death was normal.

And of course his relationship with Alec. The two of them knew each other, of that Ellie was positive, but she didn't know how long they had or even if they'd worked together before. There was something between them, like old friends, even if Alec was still a rude git during all of their encounters. Jack merely laughed his brusque remarks away, which Ellie was surprised about, never before having met someone whose feathers weren't ruffled by the copper's lack of manners.

He'd put aside all the charm and turned to a strictly professional attitude when going over the first results of Steve Connelly's autopsy.

'_It's unlike anything I've seen before. Of course there were massive third degree burns on most of the body, but there was no lighter fluid or gas or any type of flammable material anywhere to be found.'_

'_But the body was done burning by the time we found it. How does a fire start and burn out that quickly without something flammable?'_

'_That we're going to have to research more.'_

'_Any idea of who could have done this?'_

He had been unable to answer that question too. He had merely shaken his head and told them that they would have to wait for that answer as well. He had said, however, that he was bringing in a couple more of his team.

Now they waited for their arrival, and it had been nearly a day since first meeting the Captain. Ellie had not seen him since that first meeting, but she was still mulling over the new information he had told them. She was unsettled, of that she was certain; how could a body caught on fire only burn for about an hour and then be done? That was physically impossible.

She was quiet when she went home. Tom, never one to miss a change in her attitude, called her out on it immediately. 'Mum, what's wrong?"

Her eldest son would make a good detective; the thought made her sick. She shook her head. "It's nothing, sweetheart. Just some issues at work."

"The copper again?"

Tom made it clear he nursed a (mostly understandable) grudge against Alec Hardy. After all, during Danny's case her boss had all but accused Tom of murdering the youngest Latimer. That was still something that Ellie herself was disgruntled about, even if she knew now that Alec had only said that to bait Joe.

She sighed. "We found a body," she said quietly, and hated the fact that those four little words made Tom blanch, and she could practically see him wondering who of his friends it was they found dead this time. "A man," she hastily added, wanting to soothe his fears. "You didn't know him." No need for him to know the man was connected to the case of Danny's murder. She didn't need him to start fearing that he was a target as well.

It was a point she had yet to point out, but one that refused to let her go. Steve Connelly had been nothing special—but he had been tied to the Latimer case, however indirectly. Could it be that the murderer was targeting those linked to that? For that she feared for her boys' lives more than ever. She was fearing for any of them linked to those few months.

It was in moments like these that she missed being able to talk to Beth. Having a friend there who was willing to listen and give advice and simply be there was worth more than anything. But she couldn't do what she wanted. Beth's last words to her—"How could you not know?"—had effectively thrown away any chance of a future friendship between them.

Beth was right to hate her.

"But you'll be home a lot less."

It was not a complaint or a whine—merely an acknowledgment that things would be changing again. Tom looked disgruntled, clearly thrown off by the fact that his mum would not be there as often as she had been the last few months.

Ellie didn't particularly care for it either but it was her job. "I'll be home as often as I can," she replied quietly, ruffling his hair fondly.

After Danny's murder and the hellish weeks following it, nothing could get worse.

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She found Alec poring over papers the following morning—not alone, she soon discovered, as she realized that the Captain was seated in the chair opposite him, drinking a cuppa and trying to engage the copper in conversation. Alec was obstinately ignoring him, but the thin line of his mouth showed he was still irritated by the company he did not want.

The Captain seemed oblivious to this, laughing as he continued to talk. "And then she told him off, right there, in front of them! Brilliant. Who knew our nightingale could shout like that?"

Alec finally looked up, catching Jack's eye, but the irritation had vanished into something softer. "How _is_ Martha? Still not carrying a gun?"

"That all you care about?" Jack sniffed, but he was joking. He nodded. "Concerned for you, as always. Told me to tell you 'hello'."

"She coming over?"

"No." Jack finished off his tea and straightened. "You _do_ look like hell, Alec. You need to take a break."

Alec groaned, sitting far back in his seat, irritation flashing in his expression once again. "Bloody hell, if it's not her it's you!" he complained. "You're not my bloody _mother_, Jack!"

That tone would have stopped anyone else in their tracks from answering. Not so with Jack, however. His grin merely widened as he leaned over the desk. "You know you're cute when you're angry?"

Alec actually threw a book at him. "_Out_, Harkness!"

The shout drew the attention of the few officers who were in the station, caught off-guard by the boss's flash of temper, but Jack was laughing as he made a hasty exit from the office. Standing near the doorway Ellie had to step aside so his trench coat didn't hit her, not sure whether she should smile or tell the Captain to start fearing for his life. She settled for a small grin and approached the doorway of the office.

Alec looked at her with hot eyes. "If you say _anything_, Miller—" he growled.

"Never," Ellie said. Bending down she placed the book back on his desk. "Gotta work on your aim, I think."

The old sense of odd humor served its purpose. His irritation with the Captain was forgotten as he raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Why don't you stand right there while I throw it again?"

She snorted. "Please. If I was standing stock-still two feet away you still couldn't hit me."

She thought that her challenge garnered a small grin, but if it did it was quickly gone. He looked back down at his paperwork. Ellie was silent for a long moment, trying to decide what she could say next.

"Sir—can we truly trust Captain Harkness?"

It was a question that had been bothering her but one that seemed to surprise him. He met her gaze with a confused frown.

She took that as a sign to continue. "It's just—he refuses to tell us anything detailed about Torchwood and—well, he was a wanted felon a few years back—"

She could have sworn there was something dark in his eyes when she mentioned that, an old familiarity as if he knew exactly what she was missing in her explanation. But it was gone within a moment and she wondered if she had simply imagined it. "Captain Harkness was in a case of mistaken identity," he answered shortly. "He's trustworthy enough."

From Alec, those words meant everything.

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It had been close to six months since Ellie had last been in the morgue. The smell of it still sickened her, and the feel of its atmosphere sent a nasty shiver down her spine. She had no desire to see yet another dead body laid out on a cold slab of metal but this what the job required. She was unnaturally quiet as she followed Alec down to the cold rooms.

Steve Connelly's body was covered up to the chin with a thin white sheet, but in the light he looked even more ghastly. Ellie studiously looked anywhere but him.

The pathologist was waiting for them.

"It's unlike anything I've ever seen before," he told them helplessly, his confusion plainly evident. "Looking on the surface all we saw was burnt flesh—absolutely nothing hinting towards a flammable material on the body at all. Then we dug deeper." He shook his head, looking at a thin file that he had put together. "All evidence points to a faint but natural flammable chemical."

Both Alec and Ellie were thrown. "A _natural_ chemical?" Alec repeated.

"Yes. And this is where it goes even odder. The chemical isn't anything I have ever seen before. It's natural, but not natural for _man_."

Ellie almost wanted to laugh. "So what are you saying?" she said. "That this wasn't done by a human _or_ an animal?"

Alec shook his head. "We deal with facts and figures," he agreed. "Not some half-baked horse-shit."

"It's not half-baked."

The Captain's voice from the doorway behind them made them both turn. He was looking unnaturally grim, the usual charming smile nowhere in sight as he approached. His team had arrived a couple days ago and from what Ellie had supposed were working non-stop on identifying the cause of Steve Connelly's mysterious death.

"I would say well-cooked," Captain Harkness finished with an odd grim grin, crossing his arms. Devoid of his trench coat he was dressed in a simple dark shirt and trousers. "But that's beside the point.'

"What_ is_ the point?" Alec said impatiently.

The Captain shook his head. "Not human," he said darkly. "It's a creature called a chimera."


	4. Chapter 4

"_**Chapter 4"**_

"A _what_?"

There was a laugh barely hidden in Ellie's disdainful remark. She tried to hide her sudden upwelling of scorn and disbelief—god, she sounded like Alec—and was only partly successful. Arms crossed she stared at Jack, willing him to suddenly smile and say it was simply a joke.

But he didn't, and she tried to ignore the tightening of her gut. He still looked unnaturally grave, deadly serious.

Helpless, she turned to the only other form of defense she could think of; surely Alec would take her side? She'd half-expected to hear him chew out the Captain long before she had the chance to—but turning to him her gut twisted even more. Alec wasn't looking disbelieving, or angry, or scornful. Instead he was looking at Jack quietly, nodding just slightly in agreement, thinking about what had been said.

She turned back to Jack, mouth working several times before she could speak. "A _chimera_? Like the- the _Greek myth_ creature chimera?"

"Not so much," Jack replied. "That myth originated from _this_ creature." He suddenly looked at Alec. "Ever seen one?"

She was confused when Alec shook his head minutely, eyes far away. "Never. Heard about them, though. Thought that they were just a myth."

"Well, they're very real. The real chimera doesn't have the part-lion-part-snake, part-goat look. Not entirely sure what they look like, actually, but definitely not like that. But it _is_ a fire-breather."

"Which explains the burns on Connelly's body." Alec breathed deeply through his nose, looking up at the ceiling. "I take it that's why the flammable material was natural?"

"Wait, wait," Ellie interrupted, utterly confused. "You're making it sound like this thing is some sort of—of _alien_." She pleaded with a god she didn't believe in that maybe now both men would smile and tell her she was being a fool, but now it was her heart's turn to jump when neither of their expressions changed. She turned to Alec, feeling oddly betrayed. "Just what kind of _experts_ did you call in, sir?"

Alec was quiet for a long moment, looking at her. She felt like she was being sized up. Then he looked at Jack. "You want to explain it this time?"

"No!" she exclaimed, suddenly angry. She advanced on him, jabbing a pointed finger into his chest like a javelin. "I'm not asking bloody Jack Harkness to explain! I'm asking you—_you_, Alec Hardy—to tell me why you're trying to feed me a bullshit story of _aliens_!"

He didn't even so much as blink. "It's not bullshit, Miller." He glanced at Jack over her shoulder again. "Harkness and his team research and contain extra-terrestrial life that makes its way to Earth." He was irritated—his strong brogue had roughened.

She stepped back, disbelieving. "You've known about this for _how_ long?"

He shrugged. "Four, five years? Dunno, exactly."

"And have you actually _seen_ an alien?"

His answering grin was devoid of humor. "Several times."

She backed away even more. "You're insane."

She swore she heard Jack mutter something along the lines of '_now_ she's figured it out' but was too distracted to care. "You need a break from work, sir." Her voice was cold. "You're clearly addled." She turned on her heel and headed for the doorway, trembling. "Stay away from me."

She left, and for a long moment neither man said a word.

"Well, that went well," Jack commented sarcastically. He looked at Alec significantly. "I told you she wouldn't handle it well."

"I know her, Jack," Alec snapped angrily, glaring. "I may not know _why_ but I know _who_." He looked at the doorway. "She'll come 'round."

Jack snorted. "If you say so." He didn't sound convinced. "So when do you want to check out the docks again? See if we can find our alien?"

Alec shrugged. "Tonight? Connelly was attacked at night. Maybe it's nocturnal."

"See, that's what's so difficult about creatures from the dawn of time," Jack complained. "You don't know anything about them."

"Most aliens come from before the human race was even a footnote in history," Alec retorted disdainfully. "You lot are so unimportant that other aliens barely _notice_ you."

"You do know you're insulting_ yourself_ now, right?"

"Shut up."

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Distracted, Ellie watched the minutes tick slowly away on her clock. She was alone in the office, reviewing some papers before heading home, but found her attention sorely lacking now. 11:15. It was fully dark outside, the only light outside the streetlights that bathed the road in a soft orange glow. She looked back down at the papers in her hands, but every word was 'aliens' repeated over and over again to her.

Groaning, she rubbed her forehead with one hand. She was too distracted by the conversation earlier in the day in the morgue. She still held the opinion that her boss was clearly insane, and Captain Jack Harkness was just as bad; but she hadn't said a word about the conversation to anyone. Who could she tell? Would she even be believed?

She glanced over at the clock again. 11:17.

Aliens. She shook her head and stood, unable to look at the papers for one more second. Stretching, she wandered over to the window overlooking the entrance of the station, at the moment wondering where her boss and the Captain were—

And stopped where she was as, speak of the devil, a copper and a man with a trench coat stepped out of the building and headed down the steps to the parking lot. She frowned. _Where are they going?_ She watched them quickly make their way into the night, never looking back, but Ellie's interest was piqued.

She growled to herself. Sometimes she was too curious for her own damn good. Tapping her fingers impatiently for a moment, she finally huffed in resigned exasperation and headed out of the station herself, grabbing her coat along the way.

0000000

Jack looked over from the passenger seat, silently studying his old friend. Alec was keeping all of his attention seemingly on the road, but the captain knew that he was aware of Jack's scrutiny.

"It's funny," he commented quietly, "to see you driving."

Alec glanced over. "Why's that?"

He shrugged. "Just different, is all. Never thought you'd want to get a driver's license. Car seems pretty tame now."

A long moment of silence. "It is."

His voice was too soft, Jack thought. Approaching dangerous waters. He changed the subject, managing a genuine smile. "So. Ellie Miller, huh?"

"What about her?"

"Well, we both know you only choose the best. I mean, you could have gone anywhere, met anyone, after what happened between you and R—"

The brakes screeched as the car slammed to a halt. Jack jerked hard against the back of the seat, startled.

Alec's eyes were dark and hot. "Don't," he snarled, "talk. _About_. _Her_."

So. Still a taboo subject then. Jack supposed the R-word would always be that, though, and realized that although his old friend seemed to have softened somewhat since the last time he'd seen him, it still stood that Alec was still plenty bitter about his situation.

Before he could speak, however, Alec was turning back to the road and hitting the gas. "And I didn't choose her," he continued shortly, and it took Jack a moment to realize that he was talking about Ellie now. "I'm not that man anymore."

0000000

The docks were quiet and still when they got there. The area where Connelly's body was found was still roped off, but Alec and Jack easily slipped past as they made their way to the abandoned building.

"So," Jack whispered, "if there's anything else you want to add about this creature, now would be a good time."

"They were just a myth," came the terse reply. "Stories. Creatures like the Racnoss, living in the Dark Times before it's said that they were wiped out long before the creation of this current universe. Some say they were creatures of the previous universe that managed to transition to this one—albeit in a smaller, less destructive sense, I suppose."

"Killing a person by burning them to death seems plenty destructive," Jack retorted dryly.

The Stare he got was familiar. "It can kill one person, yeah," came the sarcastic retort, "but it was said the ancient chimera could burn a whole planet to cinders with one breath." He looked at the splintered doorway, shining a torch at the old dried blood. He wrinkled his nose. "If this_ is_ a chimera then it's just a smaller descendant, a lot less strong. I suppose that the ancient Greeks could have discovered one and worshipped it, warping fact with fantasy along the way."

Jack glanced over at him, climbing over the out-of-bounds tape and into the building. "There's something else, though," he said, partly in challenge. "Something bothering you."

Alec looked over his shoulder, back out at the dock and at the water. "Why go after Connelly?" he said quietly. "What was it that he had that attracted it? His phone? He wasn't attacked until he used his phone, after all. And if it wasn't his phone, then could it have been something else he had?" He shook his head. "There's something I'm overlooking, Jack, something looking me in the face."

Quite used to the steady stream of listing points, Jack patiently waited for him to finish before smiling charmingly, cocking his head. "Well, only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Alec leaned in through the doorway, scowling. "_Careful_!" he hissed warningly. "I'll watch from out here."

"Oh yeah, send the American in to do the dirty work."

"Send in the American who _can't die_ to do the dirty work."

"Point."

Slowly, Jack made his way farther into the building, the light from his torch fading with every step. Alec waited for him to leave completely before abruptly swinging towards the dock again, looking out into the darkness. The sea moaned beneath his feet. "You know, you really need to work on your stealth, Miller."

A board creaked softly, and Miller appeared, looking put-out and rather angry. "What are you_ doing_ _here_?" she hissed, advancing on him again. "This is SOCO's area now, you're tampering with the scene of the crime! This is unlawful!"

He had no patience for fighting with her tonight. "Miller, to know what this thing is exactly we needed to get close to it. SOCO won't be able to help with this one."

"So you think you're better than SOCO then?" Her eyes glinted challengingly.

He mentally rolled his eyes. "In this area, yes. Captain Harkness knows what to look for, he's had training and abilities more advanced than anyone—" Just wait until she finds out he's mildly telepathic.

And it clicked in that instant—the missing piece of the puzzle. He felt himself pale and his stomach clenched. _Stupid_. Stopping mid-sentence, he turned away from her and ignoring the sudden painful racing of his heart vaulted over the tape. "Jack!" He didn't care that his raised voice would attract the creature if it really was here, all he could focus on was the fact that his friend would be the one the creature would surely go after. The building still smelled of death and smoke. He could hear Miller shouting for him but ignored her. "Jack, get out! It senses telepaths!"

Too late. As soon as the words left his mouth an awful scream of agony filled the air—a scream he knew only too well. The air didn't just smell of old smoke now, and the scent of burnt flesh only strengthened.

Reaching the bottom of the steps into the basement of the warehouse, he found Jack rolling around on the floor screaming aflame from head to foot. A creature shining a dark gold stood above him, bending down as if to grab him.


	5. Chapter 5

"_**Chapter 5"**_

Ellie had thought she had seen it all when Danny Latimer was killed, she really had. She had thought that she could handle any and all things that happened to come her way.

Now she realized that arrogance was a dangerous thing, because as she followed her boss down into the basement life decided to horrify her just a little more. She smelled and recognized burnt flesh, the most awful thing she had ever come across, and nearly stumbled into Alec as he abruptly stopped.

The Captain was screaming in pain, an inhuman noise she would never forget as long as she lived, engulfed in flames on the floor. Stunned and horrified she made to move around her boss and do something to help the Captain—and Alec caught her arm in with inescapable fingers. "No!" he hissed in her ear. "Don't."

It was only then that she realized that there was a fourth figure in the room—a large golden creature about the height of a man. On all fours it bent over Jack as he burned to death, covered with short fine hair with padded back feet, opening its mouth again. Smoke billowed around its head like a wreath.

And then it stopped. Shuddered and sniffed the air, and then to Ellie's horror turned to look at them.

Alec swung her around and pushed her up the stairs. "_Out_!" There was more urgency in his voice than she'd ever heard before, and more fear. Without thinking she obeyed, nearly tripping over her feet as she did. Blind panic was overtaking her senses, overlapping the entire world in a blur of color and sound as she struggled to retake the safety of outside. Flames crackled after them, nearly singing them both as they ran up the steps.

The tape was torn away from the doorway as they sprinted outside along the dock. The sea crashed like thunder beneath their feet, and Ellie felt the spray of water hit her face. There was no time to pause or recover because immediately behind them the heavy sounds of crashing steps rose up from the building. Her arm was numb and realized that Alec had not let her go in all this time. She didn't know how long he could manage to keep running like this—the old memory of him collapsed on the pavement on Briar Cliff was still a very clear one—but maybe terror did wonders even with a heart condition. And he was just as frightened as she was, she could see that, but there was something else there in his expression she couldn't place. Excitement?

"What _is_ that?!" She struggled to gain enough breath to yell the question.

"A chimera! Fire-breathing and fast, so _move it_!"

The splintering of wood was shockingly loud and they turned to find that the creature had torn the doorway open; its front hands-like paws were wickedly clawed. And it was looking right at them with deep pitiless eyes shining all-black as it started to advance. Alec was right—it _was_ fast.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking, going after that?!"

"You shouldn't have followed us!" he retorted furiously.

"Seeing you two act like covert agents made it an easy choice!" She struggled to get away from him. "I just didn't expect you to have a _death wish_!"

"It's not a death wish as long as you don't die!" Abruptly he reached and grabbed her other arm, pulling her closer. They didn't slow down their speed, but they could both hear the groaning of the dock behind them. "Hold your breath!"

She almost didn't realize what he was doing—then hurriedly took a deep breath just as he leaned too far over the dock and pulled them both into the water. Eyes stinging from the salt, Ellie saw a cloud of brilliant yellow fire spread across the dock where just a second before they'd been standing at. The sea was cold. Instinctively she started to swim to the surface but found that even in their fall Alec had not let her go and was instead directing her. Lost and (literally) in over her head she had no choice but to hold her breath and trust him. Her clothes were heavier wet and threatened to drag her down or snag on something.

When finally she could surface she tried to breathe quietly but was only partly successful, treading water and trying to shake her soaked curls from her face. They were under the dock, near one of the pillar legs near the warehouse. Alec appeared beside her, spluttering.

The chimera was some twenty feet away from them, standing in the open and sniffing the air as if smelling for them. She shrank back. "What are we going to do now?" They were caught, she thought to herself. They couldn't leave the water without the creature killing them.

He still managed to give her a derisive look as if thinking she was being deliberately obtuse. "It's a fire-breathing creature surrounded by _water,_ Miller."

Oh. "I really doubt it's going to willingly jump into the sea, sir," she replied sarcastically.

"Who said anything about willing?" He reached up and tugged at the board above them. "Too strong," he said, letting go. The splash of water was startlingly loud to Ellie, and she half-expected the chimera to turn at that moment and blast them with flame. "But the dock's old. There's got to be a weaker point."

She had no idea what he was attempting, if he even had a plan, instead watching as he slowly and quietly tested each board, all the while getting closer and closer to the creature above them. At one point the wood creaked and the chimera spun, still sniffing, and Ellie watched with bated breath as Alec slipped quietly beneath the water again as it leaned over and inspected the sea.

"Found one," he said quietly when he finally reached her side again. "Loose enough board at the right angle—pull it out and that whole section of dock will fall."

"Let me guess, it's right beneath the creature."

He nodded.

She shuddered, hating the situation, but realized that they couldn't stay like this forever. "You'll need a hand."

The creature spotted them as they grabbed the board, hissing deep from within its throat as it prepared to kill them. Ellie was frozen, almost willing to laugh at how ridiculous this was—being killed by an alien that she barely acknowledged as real—but at the last moment a large black figure collided with the chimera and locking it in a strong hold dragged it below the waves.

Steam billowed from the rings of disturbed water, hissing like a boiling pan, and suddenly Ellie felt uncomfortably warm, but barely noticed as she struggled to understand what was going on. Alec grabbed her arm again and led her to the water's edge but she didn't shake him off.

Shivering and shaking she looked out at that steaming circle and shook her head. "W-what h-happened?" she stuttered, trying to keep her fingers from trembling.

Dripping, Alec stood. "Jack."

She frowned, shaking her head. "It couldn't have been, sir. He's dead."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, however, she shrank back in just one more shock as suddenly the dark figure appeared, approaching the water's edge to join them.

Blackened burnt skin was mending itself even as Captain Jack Harkness opened his mouth. "Fire!" he complained. "Why is it always _fire_?"

0000000

"You're an alien," Ellie said accusingly, glaring at the Captain. "You must be."

"'Fraid not, sweetheart," he replied. "I'm as human as they come."

"Except the coming back to life," Alec interjected sarcastically, toweling his hair dry. The three of them stood in Jack's bedroom at the Trader's Hotel, trying to dry off and recover. Ellie stared at Jack. There was no hint at all that just thirty minutes ago he had been burnt to death.

"That's what happens when you mess with aliens," Jack shrugged. "You face consequences sometimes."

She stood. "I'm going home," she said bluntly.

"I'll walk you." Alec dropped his towel on the chair and glanced at Jack. Another silent conversation seemed to pass between them and then Jack was nodding.

"See you tomorrow."

The streets were silent and dark. The two of them walked silently along, Ellie keeping several feet between them. She didn't know what she was thinking or feeling, except that her whole world had just shifted and she felt like she was on the side of a cliff ready to fall. Aliens existing, a human man with immortality, her boss in the know all along.

"You work for Torchwood," she said quietly to him, keeping her attention carefully on the road. "All this time—through Danny's case, through everything… you worked for them."

"I don't work _for_ Torchwood," he answered shortly. "I work with them sometimes."

"Same thing!"

"It's not." He stopped, suddenly irritated. "There are instances where I've some across an alien attacking humans—so when I do I call them in. And you saw it. You can't deny that they don't exist."

"You've just shattered my world!" she snapped. "_Again_!" She stepped away from him, cold. "I'll make my way home by myself now, thank you," she said, leaving him by himself and stepping past a statue by the fence.

"Miller—"

"Don't try to follow me home either!" she shouted without looking back. "I know how to use a gun—"

"Miller, stop!"

She had thought that the most frightened she would ever hear or see Alec Hardy had been facing the chimera. But now the true fear she heard stopped her in her tracks, making her turn despite herself. She'd give him a tongue lashing that would make him blush and continue on her way—

But everything she had planned on saying was forgotten when she saw what had caught his attention.

The statue behind her had moved, stretching a clawed finger her direction.


End file.
